WR trades galore: Cooper to Buffalo, Adams to New York & the great power rankings debate
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On this episode of Football 301, Matt Harmon joins me as we power rank our top 10 teams through the first six weeks of the season. We also go over the Devontae Adams trade, the Amari Cooper trade, and a quarterback switch maybe happening in Pittsburgh. We'll see. But Matt joins me. We talk about it all. See you guys in a sec. ♪

Hello and welcome to Football 301. I am your host, Nate Tice. We, instead of just a normal recap today, we are going to be checking in since it's the one-third checkpoint for the football season. We're going to be doing some power rankings today. Not 1 through 32, just 1 through 10, keeping it in the top 10, nice and tidy top 10. I don't think the producers want to edit a three and a half hour podcast.

on a Tuesday in the middle of the football season. So we're doing some power rankings. We're doing some trade news because receivers are getting traded left and right. And thank God we pushed back this recording about 15 minutes because I was a little lazy with getting ready today because the trades happened in that time span. So I'm very happy about that. But to help me go over that news.

is Mr. Harmon, Mr. Matt Harmon, I should say. Mr. Matt Harmon, BVB, I should say. How are you doing today, Matt? Thank you for joining me.

I'm doing good, man. Yeah, 15 minutes. Wish it was 15 more minutes. Maybe I could have done a little Amari Cooper charting because that literally just happened right as we were about to hop on here. But man, yeah, excited to break this all down today. Obviously, get the power rankings too because I can't wait to hear what your methodology was. But man, we have so much to dive into. Yeah, the power rankings was perfect. I like checking in after week six. We have 18 weeks now, so it's one third. I like it.

Just getting what people are thinking. Maybe my top two is a little disappointing because of just how it played out, but I'll get to that in a minute. But I think it's fun to just go like, oh, we're not just looking at records here. What are the vibes? Are there injuries coming up? You know, records are everything and aren't everything. I think early in the season. Sorry, Mr. Bill Parcells. I know he says that that's the only stat that counts, but I do think it's going to be a lot of fun to hear kind of how you are thinking about some of these teams. But before we do that,

some interesting trades, some fun ones. One we kind of speculated for a while, but one that kind of sort of came out of left field. And like you said, literally as we're about to click record, it happened. And I thought you guys were just saying it. I was like, oh, that's great. And that's Amari Cooper traded to the Buffalo Bills. It's a pick swap that includes Cleveland getting a third round pick from Tom Pelosoro. Had that news, had the breaking news.

All right, Matt, what do you think about this? Amari Cooper, who you could tell is not really feeling it in Cleveland the last few weeks, ever since Joe Flacco was no longer throwing him the ball every single down. What do you think about this? I think it's really, really interesting. I think it's fun. Oh, I think it's super fun. And I think it makes so much sense for Buffalo because, you know,

I've been saying for weeks now on this show, any other show that I'm on, that I think Buffalo has the worst outside wide receiver play in the NFL, or at least they're up there, especially from a separation standpoint. You know, Keon Coleman is not ready to be that guy. Matt Collins is not that guy. I mean, Matt Collins, man, is still running 75% of the routes in there. The touchdown after I called him Robin Lopez. I was like, you gotta be kidding me, man.

I mean, he catches a touchdown right after Josh Allen misses Curtis Samuel on a touchdown. That felt like a personal attack on me. Okay. So I took that personally, Buffalo. But yeah, man, I mean, these guys are, I think they're okay. Ancillary players. I have always said, I would love, you know, this, I would love to see Keon Coleman deployed more as a slot. Certainly just,

How about get him off the line of scrimmage? How about just not make him... Like, I thought Matt Collins would be their sacrificial X receiver, and it's really Keon Coleman's, like, their sacrificial X receiver. I think there's just much better ways to deploy him. And Amari Cooper's tough this year, man, because...

I don't think he's had a great season to start the year, but how much of that is because he's just, like you said, not feeling it. He does have like a 10% drop rate on the year, depending on which source you're looking at. But also, Fantasy Points data, those guys do a great job charting and data and stuff like that. They have a stat, you know, uncatchable air yards due to inaccurate passes. Because there's obviously air yards, there's uncatchable air yards, but this is specifically...

inaccurate throws that made them uncatchable air yards. 52.1% of Amari Cooper's 676 air yards on the season have been uncatchable due to inaccurate passes. 52? Over half! I thought you were going to say 28, 31, somewhere around there, and I thought that would be high. 52! 352 air yards just not on the table. So it's so hard to look at anything he's done

from a production standpoint and assign that to the player. And Cooper is an interesting, interesting guy because I think at different points in his career, you know, back in Dallas, especially, I thought he was a little bit overrated just because he was kind of more of a, he was a boom bus player. You know, anytime people would be like, Oh, Amari Cooper, one of the best route runners in the league. He's a route technician. It's like, yeah, sometimes. And then other times I thought it would kind of come and go. And that's the reason he'd have these big games and slower games. You know, sometimes that's not always the case.

Boom bus production doesn't always result in the wide. It's not the wide receivers fault with Cooper. I think sometimes it was, but then the last, not this year, but the previous two years in Cleveland, I thought he's played the best football in his career as the true like X receiver on that team running these in breaking vertical routes on play action. We know the bills and you've talked about this a lot, want to be a ground and pound physical run team. They got a great game out of Ray Davis last night.

Really interested to see how he mixes in here. So Cooper becoming that X receiver for this team and running those in breaking routes potentially on play action plays. I just think it makes so much sense from an addition standpoint. Of course, like I don't think 52% of his air yards will be uncatchable due to inaccurate throws because of Josh Allen. He's Amari Cooper because that was his rep. You know, he was a highly touted prospect and going into college and then going into the NFL.

I was around him in Oakland, uh, is that everyone wants him to be the route runner guy and he's best vertically and intermediate. And that's where he, I really, when he gets to kind of move around a little bit, he can do X, which is kind of nice about him is that he could do a few things like a lineup and a few spots, but attacking vertically is kind of more what it is, not the route running King, you know, footwork King stuff, uh,

Who needs that right now? The Buffalo Bills. And it's so, I like Amari a lot with this other group of receivers because him and Khalil Shakir could do some cool stuff together because they could both be inside, they could be outside, they could do some stuff. Like you said, you're talking about the bully stuff, the bully spread. I think it's a term, I don't remember if it was spread bully or bully spread, but one of them works. And,

And I think that is where this is nice. That gives it some breathing room. That works even that offense works even better when the safeties are 16 yards, not 12 yards, 10 yards, and just getting no, now those games become seven yards as opposed to three.

And I'm glad you mentioned Ray Davis, by the way, because that's how I envisioned this run game with Ray Davis. And it was like, oh, that's exactly what I pictured. Oh, that's that's this is great. This is exactly what we need. So now you got the stay on schedule guy. You have James Cook once he gets back, you know, explosive plays with that. And he's, I think, has improved as a runner a little bit, being more disciplined. And then now you got.

explosive pass catcher. I spoilers. I had the bills on my top 10, but it's still even right now. I might be bumping them up because this makes me a little, little bit. This is, this is exactly what they needed. I didn't like Amari Cooper without some teams, but I love them. Love him with the bills. I just, this is what they needed. He needs to get there. Glad he brought up the uncatchable stuff because I think Amari has always been like that. He is, he's a smart player and he's kind of one of those guys. He knows when things aren't right.

And he's not the guy that kind of goes like, all right, I'm going to overcome this. He's like, I don't know. I'm not really feeling it. He's going to feel it with Josh Allen ripping them throws and ripping those intermediate balls. And yeah, this is just going to give this offense some breathing room. A team that I feel pretty good about with the Bills right now, better than maybe I expected a couple weeks ago. Yeah, I really like this for them. Cleveland needed to do it because they need stuff. Right now, you're just trying to figure out ways to refill your cover.

after, you know, what you have done the last couple of years. So rookie contracts are going to be important at some point on this team based on where things are trending. Yes. Yes, they are. And they need these picks. They need to hit on some of these picks because that's, that's a thing too. Uh, the last few years with the Browns, I get it. You don't have first rounders, but still need some guys. So really like this, uh,

I don't do trade grades, but I mean, I feel like this is an a for the bills and really I feel good, good about it for the Browns as well. So yeah. Yeah. Some other interesting receivers in that room too. I mean, if you look at any receiver efficiency metric right now, like, I mean, they all look terrible, you know, uh,

There are 137 players in the list that I have that qualify for this stat on True Media, just like EPA or team success rate as a route runner right now. That's not like the stuff I chart or anything like that. It's just efficiency when these guys are on the field. 137 players. The Browns have the 126th, 129th, 133rd, and 137th player. But I still feel like those guys like Judy and Elijah Moore and Cedric Tillman are

I mean, I'm not as high as I was on Elijah Moore coming out. And Cedric Tillman hasn't really done much. And, you know, Judy, obviously, I've never I've always been a little lower than consensus on Judy, but they're at least like interesting. So we'll see what happens. They're all playable players. Yeah, totally. Yeah. Yeah. But who knows with Cleveland right now? But cool for the Bills. We'll talk about more in a sec. The other trade. And this is who the Bills played last night and Monday Night Football. That was the Jets.

Who I think wanted to do a little double whammy and get that win. And then the next day make the trade for Devante Adams, which is something that I think we've all been expecting for a little bit. Derek Carr goes down with an injury that might have changed a little, some, some things. I don't know, just speculating, but you know, kind of words were getting out there.

But Devontae Adams going to the Jets. Matt, what do you think about this? What do you think about the impact it has on Garrett Wilson? Mike Williams might be on the block, it seems like. So how do you feel about this trade going to the Jets? Oh, yeah. It's so beyond over for Mike Williams as a New York Jet, even before the last play of the game, which probably wasn't really Mike Williams' fault. You think Aaron Rodgers said that accidentally? Or do you think he was trying to send a message there?

I've never heard a quarterback say red line more. So red line is like on practice fields. There's a mark. There's a little red line three yards from the sideline, and it's like a landmark. So that's what he was talking about. Red line. And it was just like, oh, you're saying this for a reason. Like, get to your landmark. Yeah. Yeah. But anyway, sorry to cut you off because Adams will be on the on the red line on the red line. Yes, he will. He knows he knows where his bread is buttered. And that's through number eight now instead of number 12.

A hundred percent. And like I've said a lot that I don't think the Jets offense is a Devante Adams away from salvation. You know, I don't think that he's going to come in there and fix all of their problems. They have a lot of other issues. Most notably, I mean, Aaron Rodgers can't man. Tyron Smith looked like he was 100 years old in this game.

on Monday night. And, you know, Rodgers is getting hit on the blind side. He's getting hit all over the place. You just wonder how long that can hold up. Obviously, I think the line, even if they did all the right things and checked all the right boxes, and you've mentioned that some of this is a protection plan issue and some of this is a Rodgers issue too, but I just don't think that that offensive line is nearly as good as the skill position group.

is, and that's kind of always the case in New York. But nevertheless, they're better now with Devontae Adams in the mix here. I did since before we did this show, start charting some Devontae Adams for reception perception. You can maybe say he's a little bit less of a player than he was at his peak. He's in his 30s. That's kind of understandable. I don't think he's quite as explosive as he was in that true, true Devontae Adams. I am the best receiver in the NFL. But again, we're talking about a guy that

In reception perception has been like a 99th percentile.

percentile finisher and success rate versus man and press. If he's down to like the 90th or 88th percentile, something like that. I know what a bummer. It's certainly better than what they've been dealing with there in New York. Like I said, with Mike Williams, you know, Williams was a total reclamation project, man. I think taking Adams and putting him in that X receiver position is going to be a huge upgrade just because of the way this offense wants to play too. We've talked about it, all the static ISO routes, like getting a guy who's

who is the route runner, who is the technician that Amari Cooper is not in that conversation we had. Like, I think it's going to be a big upgrade for this offense in general. Plus like with the way they've used Garrett Wilson, it's been a lot of like off ball stuff. It's been a lot of in the slot in motion and,

It'll be nice when those can actually turn into downfield routes now as opposed to just the constant little Mickey Mouse. Give me not Mickey Mouse, but like the quick hitting quick game. Exactly. Like Adams can do that stuff from the X receiver spot, allowing them to work off more like high low concepts with Garrett Wilson. So, you know, obviously he's not going to get as many targets as he he was before there. But I think the efficiency of those looks could potentially go up.

If you saw how many times Alan Lazard is getting peppered on ISO ball stuff, that's not a winning formula. Alan Lazard now gets to be the dirty role player, which is what he's good at. He's underneath safety blanket and he's like an F tight end. He's like a second tight end. That's really his role. And you could just feel it like,

because teams are trying to focus on Garrett Wilson and because he has to be more of a move around slot guy, that you could see the limitations coming. Like Rogers wants to do what he wants to do. And then I think he even realized like, oh man, this isn't, you know, this isn't the Packers where every receiver is over 195 pounds. And I could just, you know, the bullet he threw into the end zone to Garrett Wilson that Taylor Rapp did a great job breaking up. That one felt like a lot to me where Rogers is like, oh,

which had a bigger body there. And nothing against Garrett Wilson. It's just the body type that he prefers. He's going to let his guys take chances. That's why he probably was like, hey, Mike Williams would be a good one here. That's why he likes Lazard. That's why he loved Jordy Nelson. He likes those bigger guys because he's going to give them chances. Still really like Garrett Wilson. But Adams had the second half of the Ravens game when the Raiders came back.

There was still some, there was a lot of juice there. There was some sideline catches and I was like, okay, yeah, you're still, you still have some talent there. But like you said, it might be more of a 90th percentile Devante Adams, which is still a very good player. I think he's going to become the one here because of the trust, because of being the X. And now Wilson is more of the move around auxiliary target guy. Like you said, though, the issues are still the same, which is the line. And if you want to attack deeper, you're,

that's going to be some issues with it. I saw some more layers with this offense in the first couple drives, which was good under downing and stuff, but then it kind of reverted back more to the same.

which is always going to be what Aaron Rodgers prefers. So he prefers Devante Adams. That's one thing I can easily say. I was looking up Garrett Wilson. Okay, so Garrett Wilson's 28% of his targets have come from the slot, according to NextGenStats. I think that bumps up a little bit. And I think it's going to just really kind of create a fun two-man game. We'll see kind of what happens from there. But the Jets send a conditional third-round pick. That can be a second if they make the AFC championship game. He has to be on the active roster.

for the AFC championship game or the Super Bowl. So obviously he has to be healthy too. And yeah, then he could be a first or second team AP All-Pro. I don't know if you have the Jets in your top 10. I don't have the Jets in my top 10. This did not move them into my top 10. I don't necessarily think they're going to be in the AFC championship game or the Super Bowl, but...

We'll see. Yeah, certainly this would have been a much more like exciting move if they had won that damn game last night, you know, because then it's like, OK, yeah, not only do we win big divisional win, we're first maybe first in the AFC East. I believe they won that game. And then we got Devante Adams coming in here. This feels a little bit more like now kind of.

tipping on the desperation side, which if you're Joe Douglas, like, yeah, buddy, you're on the last year of your contract. Send them picks. Send them picks out. Who gives a shit? I'm not going to be here for these. There's a magic job. I'm not going to be here. Like if this pick doesn't work out. So yeah, it's, you might as well do it if you're the jets, but we'll see. I, I,

Yeah, I agree with you. Like, I think that Adams becomes the one. But man, it will definitely help, I think, to have a veteran influence on Garrett Wilson because he needs like I love Garrett Wilson's game. I think he's a great separator. Yeah.

Is he like a great route run in terms of being where he's supposed to be all the time? His details are off. Yes. His details are... We've talked about this. He's a little bit loosey-goosey with the details, especially like... I mean, shoot, that touchdown he caught. Drake may even say, like, I don't know why he left his feet to begin with. Like...

that was one of those examples. He's had a few of those plays this year. Maybe Adams' influence can kind of help him tighten those things up because he has the potential to be an elite receiver in the league. He's not there yet, but a lot of that ball winner stuff, a lot of the sideline awareness, things like that. So I just feel like a level of professionalism across this entire offense, Adams will bring that even if he is, yeah, like 90th percentile Devontae Adams. I like that. And also the word came out that Hassan Reddick, if he gets traded to an NFC team,

The Jets are sacrificing a 2026 second round pick. Oh, my God. Everything going in New York. Everything's happening in New York. Everything. Fire the coach. Losing London. Yeah. We got the Reddick stuff. And then Josh is a Josh DeBow from AP had a fun tweet about the Raiders in the last 20 seasons. The Raiders have traded first round picks for Randy Moss, Richard Seymour, Carson Palmer and Devante Adams and never made the playoffs once with any of those players.

I don't know if you want to touch on the Raiders here real quick. Definitely not in my top 10. No, no, they are not. Why don't you just do this in the offseason? I know. If you're the Raiders, why didn't you had months and months and months in the offseason to get this done? Like, can someone like Michael Scott explain to me like I'm five? What is the plan with the Las Vegas Raiders? I don't know. I don't think they know. I think I mean, some of its owner driven.

And, you know, probably some of that. But I know that as soon as you go, yeah, Gardner Minshew and Aiden O'Connell are guys that's like, OK, we got to start looking at who we can get rid of. This is not a contending team or a championship level team or a team that's even like I mean, I like the defense and I like some of the a lot of the players actually Bowers, Max Crosby, of course. But Christian Wilkins getting hurt. It's just kind of like, what are you like? You know, I totally agree. What is the plan? But.

We'll find out. It's not like it's going great there either. Which leads us to, oh, this is a great segue. It's not even a word. Leads us to now who the Raiders just played. The Steelers, who now announced that they might be going with Russell Wilson, Tom Pelosaro again. Steelers plan to give Russell Wilson first team reps at practice this week, putting in line to make a season debut Sunday night against the Jets. This is all just...

Just all coming together here. Pittsburgh is 4-2 with Justin Fields. Yeah, yeah. But Wilson's been nursing a calf injury. Mike Tomlin's been kind of really going like, yeah, he'll play sometime. Well, we don't know. And now they win the game. Fields is really the explosive element of the offense. He's still just iffy throwing the ball. But his running ability is still one of the explosive elements of this offense. But they might go with Russell Wilson. So what do you think about that? Russell Wilson as potentially the Steelers starting quarterback. Yeah.

I don't know, man. I mean, that's it. That's a big sigh for me too. I know. I know. By the way,

they are i know that's right they're four and two and it's just i have this like general shrug about their quarterback situation the one thing i will say is that i think there's a chance this might not be the last we've seen of justin fields um and and this is kind of how i expected this quarterback situation to go you know i think this got billed during the offseason by you know some big media and stuff like that is like wow what a what a great solution for the steelers in the wake of kenny pickett busting out it's like

Well, they didn't spend a lot of resources to find these two guys, and they both are big names that somehow like are, you know, they're big clicking headlines and things like that. But these are two guys.

Guys that were unceremoniously dumped by their previous teams. And like, I don't think either team, even if the Broncos offense is not that great under Bo Nix. And even if there were some struggles at times with Caleb Williams and the Bears, I don't think any serious person has ever looked back at like, yeah, you know, man, what we should have kept that other guy around. You know, I think this is this is these are two.

below average quarterbacks. They're two probably guys who aren't starting quarterbacks in the league. So I think there's a chance they kind of ping pong back and forth all year and somehow still fall ass backwards into the playoffs because that's what the Steelers do. And again, they are four and two right now. So I don't want to sound all doom and gloom, but I'm interested in how this changes the offense because the run game has been really poor this year. They're coming off their best rushing, which makes no sense. Yeah.

Of course. Yeah, like 13 carries for over 100 yards. Explosive runs left and right against that Raiders team that we just talked about. Maybe not such a good sign over there, but Zach Frazier, their star rookie center, he's just been unbelievable on film so far. He got banged up, but it sounds like he avoided a serious injury. So I'm still kind of like, will this run game find itself? Just the true running back runs. Jalen Warren, is he going to get healthier? And then really, Russell Wilson,

kind of back to that conversation of how does he fit in Arthur Smith's offense? Because I think Smith has done, everybody hates Arthur Smith, but I think he's done a pretty good job leaning into what Justin Fields does well. That's just a pretty limited menu. The problem is it's also a limited and rather similar menu with Russell Wilson. And there's not a lot of playmakers here to speak of. George Pickens is the number one receiver and he's

right after I start saying like, oh man, he's playing the best football of his career. He starts packing it in from an effort perspective and can't make contested catches anymore. So yeah, I don't, again, I don't really know if this moves the needle for the Steelers one way or another. That's, that's where I'm at. They fields and, and Wilson are very similar in their quality and some strengths and some weaknesses too. And that's why, you know, Russ is more accurate and I want to see,

some stuff of creation because that's what fields has been doing really well uh he's been throwing left really well and also just like you you mentioned the arthur smith designs his rushing touchdown was it was a great design it was a true naked keeper uh which is just there was no pass routes on it and it was just a fake toss that i mean i love the design it looked like a

sixth grade offense where you just fake the toss and have the quarterback keep it. But it's great because fields could actually win on that. And that's where my argument always was, where if these guys have the same qualities and some of the same negatives, well,

I'd rather have the guy that's younger, bigger, and maybe more explosive at this stage of his career. So I'd like to see it how Wilson looks, but it's just, yeah, I don't know. It doesn't really fire me up in any way, shape, or form. I was kind of just more curious about how the Fields experiment kept evolving. And I wanted to see maybe the added layers. Maybe he had more confidence. The pass game has still been iffy, but it's not like the pass catchers are anything to write about. A lot of Calvin Austin, a lot of Van Jefferson, Scotty Miller,

If you guys. So, yeah, just kind of a shrug at this, but we'll see. I do think there are signs of decency, but who knows what the Steelers team, like you said, they're going to be at the playoffs probably. So who cares playing quarterback? I mean, this is just what they do. Apparently, but we, I know, right? Tomlin, man, he's, he's good at his job, but we are going to take a quick break and then we are going to come back to start our power rankings. Our top 10. We're going to do teams 10 through six. See you guys in a minute.

It's power rankings time. That's the gimmick. You guys know what power rankings are. It's how we feel about these teams, how we stack them up. Hopefully not just by record. Hopefully not just by point differential. That's why I'm a little disappointed in some of my stuff. But as we look at this, as I'm going to have Matt first list off his teams 10 through 6, and then I'm going to do the same.

And then we're going to go from there. We're going to see what we overlap, where we have some differences. One of these teams in my 10 through six, I might be adjusting. So that's why I'm going to have Matt go first. But Matt, start us off. Power rankings, 10 through six, week after week six of the NFL season. What do you have for us?

Yeah, I hate that you're making me go first and that we're doing the back half because that's the half I was the least confident in. Definitely curious to guide people along. You know, make them listen to the whole show to get to five through one. Right. The layup teams, in my opinion, I think five through one was super easy. But these 10 through six, a little difficult. I went bears at 10. Okay. Bucks at nine. Bucks at nine.

Bills were at eight for me. I think I could see myself maybe bumping them up of at least one, maybe two of the teams at seven and six, which were the Green Bay Packers and the San Francisco 49ers. Wow. We actually have some overlap here. Okay. So you went Bears, Bucks, the Bills, maybe pop it up there and then 49ers. And then I went Packers 49ers. Yeah. Packers 49ers. Thank you. Okay. So I went Falcons at 10.

Yeah, I'll talk about it. Bears at nine. So we have that. I have the I the bills is eight also, but I have the same line of thinking that I might move them up to six. Like if I really had to think about this, I have the 49ers at seven and then I have the Texans at six. Okay. Yes. I'll talk about that. All right. Let's start with where we okay. We'll start with the Bears first.

Because I have them at nine. You have them at ten. You're liking what you're seeing with the Bears right now? Yeah, man. I mean, I think Caleb Williams has gotten better every single week. You've brought this point up a lot, and I've talked about it on other shows, too, giving you credit for this, that you can see just how much they've put on Caleb Williams' shoulders from a pre-snap and operations perspective in that offense, which...

it's so funny. We're so reactionary, Nate, on the outside. And maybe I'm giving the Bears too much credit by saying they're being a little bit forward-thinking with this. But we do this in the first two weeks. He's like, oh, man, why are they putting all that on Caleb Williams? Why don't they just make his life easier? Well, because then you get to week

six and you see, oh man, now the game has started to slow down. You're starting to see the arm talent and the accuracy and the placement of this guy. And he's already handling all of this. Like this is what, who gives a if his first two games are Rocky and a little shaky because he's handling so much and he's a rookie and

I know it's not about winning first take. It's not about like, oh, did the Bears make a mistake taking Jaden Daniels or whatever. This is a long ride with this guy's career. And that's how he looked against week six, albeit poorly.

against the terrible jaguars teams like yeah i don't know you don't you have forbidden talk of the jaguars which is totally fine i should have that caveat by the way and i realized i didn't after the show i was like i talked about all the rookie quarterbacks but caleb williams the number one pick who i really like because they played the jags and i was like i'm not talking about any team the jags are involved with so sorry bears fans i should have addressed that writing about caleb williams jane daniels next week though so

delayed gratification because we get to talk about it right now and we get to talk about it in a much more positive sense because he just thumped that terrible Jaguars team that's packing it in, man. So look again, easy matchup, but that's one of those situations where I think you can divorce whatever's going on with Jacksonville with just some of the real

A plus throws he made in that game. And then you start to see like, okay, the offensive line is settling in. They're using Deandre Swift on screens and perimeter runs, which makes a hell of a lot more sense. They've kind of cut the fat in the offense, like the Gerald Everett and Deandre Carter plays. They're just focused on the main dudes, which who are all really good players at this point in specific roles. And that's just the offense. The defense continues to, I think, show itself to be a top five unit in the NFL. So

honestly, I think by the end of the year, nine, 10 could be conservative for this Chicago bears team. I, uh,

I thought about moving them up even higher, but then you looked at a couple of other teams and I was like, okay, it's hard to argue against them. But the defense first is I was high on them going into the year and they have done nothing to make me go like, yeah, I was a little too high. They are exactly what I pictured. They make it real tough on teams because they can stop the run decently, but they make it really hard to throw the ball on them because the linebackers are all good. They're all playing really well. And then they just got

a lot of just good players on the back end that play sound and they can vary it up too, which is what, that's what they have. Cause they have smart players too, along with being good. You don't want just smart players. Is it enough? Like I,

our wisconsin teams had a lot of just smart players and then when we played in oregon uh yeah that wasn't as fun uh when you're going against a team like that but it was this team is smart and fast and good and it could get after the passer they can throw some cool blitzes in there and then like you said with the offense they've had a little easy slate the last few weeks but again you have to do it like you can say a team has a bad goes against a bad defense or a bad offense but you still have to like

show that they're bad. You still have to score points and still have to move the ball.

And I just kill it. Just like you said, slowing down the fact that they put so much on him is really, really cool because that you don't see that a lot. You see some stuff and managing checks and kills, but not every play. I think the bears have one of the highest no huddle rates in the NFL because Caleb can, and it's not just a simple play. Caleb is truly doing a hanging huddle, which is,

They go up to the line, they see what the defense is in, and he's calling plays off, you know, drawing them up basically. Not really, but just actually verbalizing going, hey, we're going to run this, we're going to run this. You don't see rookie quarterbacks do that. That is just a different kind of thing than you see with other teams or other young guys. And then you see the arm talent. Also, the early woes, I would say, maybe especially like the Texans game and, you know, where he gets caught with some picks. He got caught with a pick in this game.

These young guys, especially the ones that you know have confidence, I don't think anyone has ever been like Caleb Williams is not confident. I mean, it's palpable when you watch him that sometimes failing is

is the best way for them to learn. Like sometimes trying something and losing or trying something and getting dinged on it is how they go, okay, I can't do that again. Or okay, next time I would do this and seeing themselves do that. The physical element was never the issue with Caleb. I mean, him spinning the ball, he has such a strong arm and he's accurate and his throwing angles are great. The creation stuff is great. Just that mental side is so cool to see it pre-snap and now post-snap. You can see that calmness just trickling over. So

I like you said how you wrap that up. It's like this team's ascending right now. This whole division is just stacked. I don't want to spoil anything too much, but it's a very, very stacked division. I'll say difference here. Well, before we move on to bears, because I know that like methodology wise, I tried to not get this like

you know, I try to not take into account like how many wins are going to get in the future. This is a little bit more of like a holistic thing as opposed to like trying to nail down the exact teams. But you mentioned like they have, you know, beat up on some lesser teams that come out of the buy and they get Washington, which good team, but bad defense, Arizona week nine, the Patriots in week 10. So it's like they're, they can keep this thing rolling here once they get out of the buy too. Oh, that's great. It's yeah. Very fun team. I, I,

I enjoyed watching it. I'm glad he also brought Waldron's cutting some fat out. That's helped so much. It's just like, stop doing that with that guy. Stop doing that with that guy. Okay, now it works. We had a difference at, well, my 10th spot, your 9th spot, essentially the same. Different NFC South teams. I will admit that the Bucs were probably the first team out if we're doing bracketology. They were the first team out and the Falcons were the last team in for me. But I'll start with you with the Bucs. You watch that Saints game and you're just like,

This was entertaining. I compared it to a jackass skit that game because that's what it felt like. But yeah, how you feel about the Bucks right now as your number 19 team?

Yeah. If Bucks were one of my last teams in, I think Falcons and commanders, spoiler alert, I don't have the commanders as a top five team. They were one of my last teams off to it just so hard because I feel I don't feel great about the defense, but it feels so good about what we're seeing on the offensive side of the ball. So Falcons and commanders, I think were my two hardest cuts, maybe, you

You know, I think with it, and it's funny because obviously I think what people will say is, hey, idiot, did you miss Thursday Night Football when the Falcons beat the Bucs? You know, I think, but that's not what this is about. This is about the long term. Although, you know, I don't know about you, Nate, but when I used to like,

argue with my friends in college after a few beers, you know, I would definitely use the transitive property, right? Like, okay, well, that team beat this team. Well, that means you're better than this team. My team did all that. So I'm trying to evolve here. You know, I've been out of college for quite some time now. I'm trying to evolve a little bit. You said holistic, which I was very proud. Like, yeah, that's exactly the right word for this. So that was perfect. And then I'm bringing up the transitive property. So, you know, I'm maybe not that smart. Still a meathead somewhere at heart. But yeah, no, with the Bucs, I just think I feel so good about the overall team

and the way the offense operates. Man, there might not be a player I've done more of a 180 on in the past two years than Baker Mayfield because I just thought his career was like DOA after the Panthers stint. I think a lot of that maybe had to do with Matt Rule and just the overall stink of the franchise at this point. But man, I was about as down as you could be on anybody with Baker Mayfield then, but I

I just think he's played so well this year. I know he had the three first half interceptions. Not all of those were his fault, but he just has such a good, I think, control of that offense. And he feels so in tune and just dialed in with what the offense wants to be. I've talked about it a lot, but the receiver usage in that offense is really good. Dude, my guy Sterling Shepard is

getting it going in this offense too, like playing a legit role in whatever year it is of his career after about five devastating injuries. The fact now that we've got Sean Tucker and Bucky Irving giving them a real pop in the run game, I think it'll be like, thank you for your service, Rashad White. We will throw you some passes here and there, but this could be like a legit running game now at this point. That's exciting to see. The defense gives the two things that give me pause about the Bucs.

is one of the defense. They're getting healthier in the secondary. That should help things, but I still think when Todd Bowles...

isn't just going against a rookie quarterback who he can blitz into oblivion. I do kind of have, you know, some questions about the ceiling of that defense overall. And the second thing is the Falcons, not to just credit your argument here, but they're a team that I think could continue to rise. Whereas like, I think I know what the bucks are and I feel really good about that ceiling floor combination. If the Falcons do continue to progress,

I think that would hold me up from kind of the decision between those two teams. I actually just had a conversation with Drake London. That's going to be on my show tomorrow on the fantasy show. By the way, Nate, I asked him, what is the, what is the thing about wide receiver play that people don't discuss enough on the outside? Would you like to take one guess as to what he talked about? Blocking?

that is exactly what he said. He said, Hey man, I think you think I, he said, you know, you got a block in the run game, man, no block, no rock. Like if you, you know, if you're not willing to do that, you will not play all the, like, he can say it because he proves it. You can tell he's a believer in that. So yeah, he could say it.

The overall vibe just I got from him, though, is that this team is is does feel really good about itself and the trajectory of where they know they have hired to climb there. So if they do meet that potential, I definitely think they could be the better team in the long run. But just from what I've seen right now, whole body of work, I do feel a little bit better about Tampa.

Yeah, you kind of argue both sides for how I went through with the Bucs, where I do like where this offense is. I thought the line played really well against the Saints, even with Grant Barton out. The run games really come together. Like Luke Gedeke is a huge player for this team, their right tackle. Him being out there totally transforms the offense, where the biggest weakness is their left guard spot right now. Cody Mock's playing a little bit better. So the line is just like...

I had this note to myself after I watched the game was that, man, they get one more guard. This line is going to be like a top five line next year, offensive line, which is totally different from what it was a year ago. You got to invest in your line to have a good line. That's how it works. But I, like you just mentioned, the pass catchers, Chris Godwin is,

the yak monster right now had one of the best receiver stiff arms you ever seen in your life against the saints. And then Bucky Irving just comes in there and gives his, his stiff arm and has a ridiculous run that some people are comparing to tech mobile. You know, that's, that's the only way you can just find that run. You mentioned everything with the defense and that's what kind of held them off for me. It's that the linebackers are a big learning weakness right now, especially in the passing game that,

matters because of how aggressive Todd Bowles can be. And so they can get gashed pretty easily. Vita Vea is a strong player against the run, but it's not like an outstanding run defense where I'm like, Ooh, I'm really scared. So I think if you have a good game plan, you can get after them. And if you're sound, if you're not starting Spencer Rattler, you know, and I mean, the first half Rattler was great. Second half, he kind of got blitzed to being a rookie. He can do that. Like Todd Bowles can do that, but all right, who are you playing in the playoffs? Are you

Are you playing the Bears? Next three weeks, they're playing Lamar, Kirk Cousins again, and then Pat Mahomes. Yeah, so this take could age really poorly. Yeah, so that's why I'm just... That's what kept me off. But I would say they were Team 11 for me. They were the first one off. The Falcons was, you just nailed it. They're ascending. They're...

hashtag is rise up and like that offense is rising like it really is it's i know they play the panthers and everything but it's more sound it's better they're using their players better you just mentioned drake london he had a phenomenal block on a wind back play and it's like sweet you're dropping that in there some of that ram stuff that cooper cup puka stuff they're dropping that in there kirk cousins looks great uh you know still moving but

Little iffy, but he's firing that rock. He's playing on time. The old line is playing decent and playing pretty solid. Again, caveat against the Panthers, but just this last couple of weeks and the run game is legitimately one of the best run games. Like it's like,

I kind of wish I saw Arthur Smith with this run game. No offense. No offense to their coaches now and Zach Robinson and everything. But with the backs, with Bijan, Tyler Algier, a.k.a. Hamster Ball, like this is a true, legit run game that can keep them every game. It's an explosive pass game. I'm iffy about their defense, too.

But they have the same kind of arguments. And that's what kind of kept me maybe like, oh, do I want to keep them 10? I do have hesitancy about the defense. I do not think it is a good defense. But they can make plays. They have playmakers. AJ Terrell had a nice play. Jesse Bates is still a good player. They can do things. It's just that

you know, not a big needle-moving unit, but the offense is a needle-moving unit. All the efficiency and explosive play stats I look at, they're good on early downs. Kirk Cousins is a good operator on late downs. So, yeah, I feel really good about the offense. And so when you're trying to parse these teams, you're betting on the best unit. And I feel good about that Falcons unit, but I do feel good about the Bucs offense too. So fun two teams, especially where we started the season, how I felt about both of them. Moving on, we both had the Bills at 8th.

with an asterisk that we might move them up. But eight to six, somewhere in this range, somewhere around it. I'll just start real quick. The Bills for me,

I already talked about a little bit of this, talking about Ray Davis in the run game. I think all the elements that they have there. Josh Allen maybe got his Josh Allen badness out the last couple of weeks, but still, even that crazy performance against the Texans that was so wonky, there's still some moments of brilliance from him. He can still run the ball. Rex Ryan calling that he's going to keep the ball on third down to win the game was awesome because it was just like, yep.

it's what he does. It's like, yeah, you can key on it. He can still do it. And I feel better about this defense than I thought. I watched that Texans game on TV and I was like, oh man, really? I know you have some injuries, but man, this is, this isn't great. Reviewed them on all 22. And I felt a lot better about them. And,

Do I think it's a top five unit? No, but I think it's more of like a top 12 ish unit. One that I think can hang in games. And when they have an offense that can run the ball like that, they still have Josh Allen. Now they have a little bit more explosiveness on that offense.

Yeah, I feel good about the Bills. Even after those weird couple of weeks, I do feel good about them. So I think you kind of sort of feel the same, but do you have any additional thoughts with the Bills? No, I like your points about the defense, and eventually they will get Von Miller back too, who was actually playing pretty well to start the year. Gee, I wonder why. Why is he not on the field anymore? I don't know.

Yeah, now it's like Amari Cooper definitely. If that addition works out, because I do think this offense really looks sound and well-designed. People complain about their players and stuff like that, but...

I think they're just, I think they're just in a tough spot with the dudes that are on the roster. And I think this Cooper thing could really help them kind of cause Shakira once he's healthier is, is such a good receiver. And, and yeah, I like, like your points about how they'll be able to work off the two there. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it's sound. I know it's the offense sometimes leaves me kind of going like, Oh, maybe try this, but I never have complaints about the offense. Like I never go like, man, why did you do that? Maybe,

Maybe throwing MVS one-on-one against Derek Stingley wasn't my favorite. But again, that's circumstances of personnel. Right, exactly. What are you going to do? What else are you going to do? You're going to throw to Matt Collins one-on-one? You're going to throw to Keon Coleman one-on-one? That's all a journey. Now you've got maybe a guy that you can actually trust in those situations. So, yeah, Bills, Stock, definitely ascending. Fun team. All right, you had 49ers. Seven for me, six for you. Where are you at with the 49ers? What?

What a weird team so far this year. Such a weird team. What a weird team so far this year. Even that Thursday night game, you could feel a little bit of tightness. Is this good? Yeah. Are you good? The results are good. I think Purdy's played really well. Insane that they're...

His passer rating on play action is the best in the league, and yet they're one of the lowest play action teams in the NFL this year. That's bizarre. What do you make of that from an offensive perspective? Because what they're running seems so different and sort of antithetical to the whole thing.

Kind of ethos of what Shanahan has been, even when they took that next phase of their evolution away from like the Jimmy Garoppolo and all that, like not that stuff. And like all the outside zone, they moved to a different type of run game, a different more like straight drop back passes with Brock Purdy. But now it feels like they've really kind of gone in the other direction. I can't quite get my.

hands on that nobody has really played to their full potential or been healthy the entire year like and or you know you has not had the season that he's having and i think he'll be fine at some point but he's not having the season that he had last year you know ricky pierce all their first round pick and been available uh debo has not been 100 all year he's missed time kittles missed time obviously no cmc so it's like there's a hypothetical world where this

ranking them at six could look and seven could look stupid in like four months when, you know, they're really out there slinging it around in the playoffs or something like that. But I don't know right now. It's just been, they've just been a bit of a weird team. Weird team. Like that's, that's my first note, but bullet point, weird team. The offense is just really missing CMC. We talked about it last week and it's just that, especially in the red zone, you can feel it outside of a break.

brilliant throw from Purdy to Kittle. That was one of probably, I think Purdy's best throws of his career at the touchdown to Kittle in the low red zone. But then look how hard that was like, that was hard. That was a great throw and catch from Purdy and Kittle. Yes. Players have to make plays, but,

But man, look at this offense the last couple of years, especially after CMC. They got inside the 10. It was like clockwork. It was easy for them. Guys running wide open. And I think that's just going to continue to be a thing. Maybe they get this little mini-buy, kind of get a little bit of refresher over the weekend and go, okay, okay, we got to do this, this, and this. Move the ball and don't punch it home. And your kicker situation isn't great. That's kind of hard. And if your defense isn't – defense is solid but not great –

And it's more stars and scrubs to me. That's a hard formula because you need the touchdowns. You need the six points, the seven points, as opposed to just settling for three. So that that's why it just all doesn't add up. But I still feel OK about him because, like you said, Purdy's creating really well. His God, he's got like a trademark move now. The little backpack, the like the fake forward back. And he just creates a little space like everything.

And every defender falls for it. It's sick. Cause you can see the, I know everyone jokes about the 10 yard split time. You can actually see it there. Like that actually carries over. Del Don on the fantasy show kind of says, I think he, God, I think this was him yesterday. He's a 49ers fan, but he called him like this generation, Tony Romo. And he feels kind of like, like a Romo type of player. You know, when you actually watch him, I'd feel like he's never, he gets the game manager stuff and all that, but it's just like, you watch him play this year. He's not playing like a game manager. He is playing a little bit like a,

Yeah. I mean, little Mark Brunel there. Yeah. Yeah. Most of my Mark Brunel memories are unfortunately with the Washington football team. Oh, yeah. Oh, God. Oh, you had some fun ones as a kid. Then you got Spurrier. You got. There's a reason I'm not a fan of that team because I watched a lot. I've watched more Jason Campbell dump offs to Mike Sellers than I could have ever wanted in my life. I don't even know why I like the sport, to be honest with you.

That's like, yeah. I always got the hook as a kid. I cheered for good teams, and then they just became bad after the Mariners went to roles. Then they became bad, so they hooked me in. No, Jordan Mason's banged up now. Isaac Guerrero. Guerrero? Guerrero. I know. I should know. He used to be a Badger. God, I always mess up his name, but he's not bad.

Good. I'll just straight up say that he's, he's a boom bus running back. That scares me a little bit because they need to stay on schedule. If they're going to be chucking it, that's always the basis of this offense is always gonna be running the ball, but he's more boom busty. And I'm curious if they keep rolling with him, if they, or if they go to Patrick Taylor a little bit more to kind of maybe split that. So that's just something I've keep my eye on. I got to watch it a little bit. I'm sorry. I always want to say Guerrero, but Garendo, but he's very fast.

uh you could see that and if you get a runway you can you can hit those so it's going to be more on the blocking as opposed to cmc really creating stuff jordan mason could actually run through some stuff that helped out so i i'm just i just got to see a little bit more of this and then just the defense has me a little worried with the injuries in the back end the linebackers outside fred warner are still mid and i think teams are going to really attack that i really like you've already seen i think see more of it i just i

I'm not overwhelmed right now, even if I do think they're still a good team. So yeah, that's the 49ers for me. Like you said, I could see them in two months being like a top three team easy. And I'm just like, oh, I always do this with Shanahan. Every time he has a struggle and a month later, it looks amazing. So still like what they're cooking up. I had the Texans at six, but spoilers, you have them in your top five and we'll get to the rest of our top five power rankings after the break.

Home stretch top five already spoiled a couple of them one for each of us but list off your five through one power rankings after week six Mr. Matt Hartman. All right. I've got Vikings at five Texans at four Chiefs at three Lions at two Ravens at one. I really want to if Aiden Hutchinson would have been defensive player of the year. Let the record show.

I curse the poor man. Great take. And I feel so bad about it. This has to somehow causally be my fault. I mean, it felt so great. Matt Harmon, edge rusher expert. It's well known. It felt good coming off the bat, too. BYB, bring your bull rush. Pretty bad stuff there. But yeah, I might have had Detroit at number one if it wasn't for the Aiden Hutchinson injury. But I settled with them at two. Yeah.

Yeah, I so why I at the beginning of the show was like I was a little disappointed in my top two because I'll tell you in a sec. But my number five guy, I got too many notes here. Top five was pretty fun. I have the Ravens at five. I have the Packers at four.

I have the Lions at three, a little bit of Aiden Hutchinson. They would have been two, but that did move a little more. The Vikings at two and the Chiefs at one. Yes, I have the undefeated teams at one and two, but I do have arguments for it. I do have arguments for it. So because when I list this off, this is my methodology. I really just open up the Google Doc whenever I'm doing like a ranking thing or a listing thing. And I just like, okay, top of my head, who am I having on here?

And the first two teams were Chiefs and Vikings. And then eight teams and other teams kind of got in there. And then I kind of just broke it down, broke it down, looked at numbers, parsed numbers, feelings, what I watch on film. And yeah, they're still my top two. So we'll get to that in a second. But let's start with the Texans because I am at six. You have them at four. They just beat the Patriots in Drake May's first start. But what are you feeling about the Texans right now to put them at four?

Yeah, they're a little bit of an interesting team because I feel like they're mid-level in point differential. A lot of us football dorks are like, yeah, but they're early down offense and their run game and the offensive line and maybe some of the mid-level of the defense. I don't know. Yeah, this, that, and the other. They're 5-1, and they have a guy who might be the best quarterback in the NFL, or at least the guy who might be playing quarterback the best right now in the NFL, in C.J. Stroud. So it's just like...

Yeah. Can I really get a team like that out of my top five when also they can lose a guy who is an elite top five wide receiver and still be okay? Not great, but they can be okay. You know, Tank Dell is not the player that he was last year yet. I maintain that on film. Like he is, he is not as explosive as he was as a rookie. Yeah.

But he's still a good route runner who can get – he's not going to explode and get separation. He's not going to be as open as he was last year. But he's still a fundamentally sound player who has really good chemistry with the quarterback. He can become that, like, compiling receiver for you. Steph Diggs has played good football for them this year. They get Joe Mixon back and, like, oh – like, they have two good games running the ball. Week one, week six. What's the common thread there? I don't know what it is.

Might be going from running back signing might be gone from cam acres, you know, after two Achilles injuries to this version of Joe Mixon, who's not even like an elite back or anything, but he's a professional. He's a professional running back who's like tight on his details, you know? So I think that that's,

I'm not saying that run game is all the way solved. I'm not saying that the issues structurally in the offense, which are there – shoot, I was saying in the offseason, I thought Bobby Sloat got a little bit overrated based on what happened last year. And I think we're seeing a little bit of that lack of counterpunch come to fruition. But again, I feel like all of these are nitpicks because on defense too, they can get after the quarterback. Generally, I know this is just – this is football 301. I'm going to take us back to 101 here. You have an elite quarterback.

And you have a great pass rush. You win a lot of football games. That's kind of how I feel about the Texans right now. I mean, that's my argument for them. They got the great equalizers, a pass rush, and an awesome quarterback. That's my argument for them. I originally had them at four and then bumped them to six when I kind of started looking more into them and how I really feel about them. I think your holistic word is perfect here because it's more just about how I generally feel and how maybe they match up in terms

against contenders or other contenders and all that stuff so it's kind of hard to talk out both sides of my mouth but it's our power ranking show so i can do whatever i want but yeah pass rush is a great equalizer they're losing mario edwards who had the game of his life probably got tested after that and then gets popped with a ped thing but they're good denico alter back so maybe that helps out uh but i don't trust the offensive line i that's what's holding me back stroud

mitigates it as much as any quarterback can, especially any quarterback that does not scramble can. He is getting hit over and over and still delivers 20-yard frozen ropes that are just perfect spirals right on the guy's face mask. I love watching C.J. Stroud. Him and Lamar are my MVPs 1 and 2 in some shape or form. Thankfully, I don't have to do an article right now about it and get yelled at. I think the line, Laramie Tunsell's mid right now. He is not

playing how he usually plays. He's always been a penalty guy, but now he had penalties and just above average play, not elite level or excellent level play. That is why I'm kind of just like, all right. So when you play teams that are going to make it tough on you and you get outside the opening script, you mentioned Bobby Sloak and all that there on the opening script, which is generally called the first 15 plays. So being a true Shanahan guy, it looks like they're more of an opening script team, but

The first 15 plays, they're fourth in EPA per play. After the first 15 plays, they're 23rd in EPA per play. So once they get off that and they have to adjust, I think adjustments are a big weakness for this offense and have been.

I like that. It's so, it's so hard to, because their third down concepts are good. That's the most fun part about this offense is Stroud executing on third down. They have to do it a ton, but like the designs are there. Yeah. The designs are good. Like I, so whoever's in charge of third down stuff there, I really like, and I've been trying to figure out, I think they have a passing game coordinator, but I've been trying to figure it out because it's not typical Shanahan stuff. It's a, it's different stuff thrown in there. Um,

But yeah, that's one I've been keeping on, but it's just, or keeping an eye on.

They still have Derek Stingley, still have Al Shayer. I still think you can get after this defense, but I still think it's a good defense with a pass rush. So six felt like a good spot for them for me, but it could go either way because I just were like two spots either way because I think Stroud is just so, so good. Bill Lazor is a senior offensive assistant. There it is. Ben McDaniels, who I'm going to assume is related to Josh, is the passing game coordinator. Yeah, I know him.

Funny. Sorry. Sometimes I hear a name. It's like, oh, I met him before. But going on, rest of the top five. I'll go with. All right, let's go with my number four team. Your number seven team, which is the Green Bay Packers. I almost got a little spicier with this Packers team because I'm feeling pretty good about them. But you haven't met seven. Where are you at with the Packers right now?

I don't really have any questions about the offense. I love that we're seeing sort of proof of concept of this wide receiver room, which is just like, yep, I mean, Christian Watson gets hurt. Romeo Dobbs misses a game due to being, you know, whatever was going on there. Personal conduct detrimental to the team is the way they –

They labeled it. We'll just leave it at that. And he comes right back next game. He has two touchdowns after Dontavion Wicks gets hurt. We've seen the depth of this room has really come to fruition. I love that they're using... Tucker Kraft's a 3.2 average depth of target this year, but he's averaging like

10 yards after the catch per reception. He is almost because, yeah, he's a really good player because they've unleashed Jaden Reed on more of these like downfield routes. They need someone else to just kind of be the outlet receiver and like the guy operating in the flats. And that has been Tucker craft. And because he is such a good player, he's also brought pop to those plays. So I feel really good about where the offense is. You know, their run game is just,

kind of on schedule a little bit of a little bit of like a boring run game but it's but again it's keeping them on schedule i still just have some hang-ups about the defense which kept them out of the top five for me that i i've come around on a defense a little bit but that was i do have hesitancy i think they're more average uh than like a very good unit they're playing like they keep getting turnovers and i always struggle with that is it

it right yeah can that sustain is that what you're doing and so that's why I'm always like oh look how many turnovers they got they're gonna keep it up because it's like it's proven that's hard to keep up but it does speak to kind of their their back ends very well coached like I've been liking the back the DBs especially McKinney back there but just the other guys too like their their sound on the back end their linebackers you can get them after him a little bit I think their their front is pretty good but

you know, you can run on them a little bit. Lucas Van Ness is playing well though. Um, I do like him. I think he's really emerging as a second year player. So the defense, I think is just more average ish. I just love the offense so much. I just, it's after my own heart. It really is. I keep saying this guys, but I'm never going to stop because this is exactly how I like my offenses. Um, the run game, like you said, it's a, it's a jab. They use the run game truly as a jab.

And that's just the setup Jordan Love and these receivers and the designs. Matt LaFleur

I get so much respect for me and will continue to do so because the designs are so sound. There's a little creativity in there. Like he did a... I didn't want to tweet it because I know someone was going to poke at it. He inverted a stick concept that I haven't really seen before. And I'll tweet it. But it was pretty interesting. It was out of empty, but just... I don't want to get too much into it, but just shows that's like, we're going to just take our staples and just add a little twist on it. And it was an out route to Josh Jacobs. So if anyone remembers that play. And then you got Love, who's just...

ripping it and like the he had the cover zero touchdown to Dobbs that was the dog yeah it was sick sick and that play I know non Packers fans non cheese heads are gone how lucky is he if you remember against the Vikings he tried the same exact thing against cover zero shooter shoot

And those are 50-50 balls for a reason. Sometimes you throw a dumbass pick, but sometimes you get rewarded for a touchdown. The receivers can make plays too. And that's an advantage when these DBs are expecting something quick and you try to just gash them out of it with a touchdown. And that's why I like Luff. It's that he's going to be... Nothing's going to deter him from keep doing that. And you need that to win games. And they have it. I just think this offense is really coming around. Just like last year. These young players, they...

They kind of gel and they figure out this new personnel and they keep ascending. I think the offensive line is solid. They're true greater than the sum of their parts. Like they truly are just like a good unit, even if it's not like the most sexy offensive line. So well coached quarterback willing to wing it. An offense that's really emerging week in, week out and really coming along. Glad you brought up Tucker Kraft because I stated that.

I don't know, mailbag question that I basically consider my top six tight end right now in the league. Yeah. Love it. We had a great question, a mailbag question, too. This show is going to get too long, but future shows, we're going to answer one mailbag question a show. I figured that one out. But they asked, top eight tight ends, would you consider Kraft in there? I'm like, I think so. I think I'm really willing to say that because I do think he's that good of a player. Good team. I just like this team. I think their defense is coming along, and I think they're pretty complete. Hate the kicker situation, though.

That's a little questionable. I mean, come on. Like, enough already with the kicker with 44. So, man, he's iffy. So that does cause some hesitancy. You're only as good as your kicker. That's the classic line about quarterbacks. Quarterbacks are only as good as this kicker. Yeah, I just like the offense. I will continue to like it. I just think they have answers week in, week out. They're going to make it tough on teams. But continuing in their top five, let's go with your five team.

The Vikings, who are my number two team, because I guess I'm a sucker for undefeated teams. But Vikings at five. How are you feeling about them right now? Coming off a bye week as well.

Yeah, I mean, look, they're just so well coached and well prepared on both sides of the ball. Just love the approach on offense, love the approach on defense. I've submitted to the Sam Darnold Oligarchs. I'm not going to keep quiet about that one for the time being, although he is coming off his worst game before the bye. I know, I know, I know. Thankfully, his old team, the Jets, actually did him a solid by being a complete dumpster fire that no one's talking about it. Us Oligarchs hear you, you peasants rumbling down there.

Here you guys causing chaos down there, throwing bread at us. I hear you guys. We're hoping for just one of you guys to drop down like a moldy hunk of cheese or like whatever spoiled bread or something. Like, come on. Like, we just need something at this point. Things have gotten so bleak down here. Morton Joe and Mad Max is doing the water.

Just a little drop of water. Just a little drop of water for us Sam Darnold non-believers. I think this team's really good. I don't really have a hang-up. Anything that I'm doubting about this team, I think Aaron Jones

You know, we've already seen the injury issues. Hopefully that doesn't take some air out of this thing going forward because the run game is, we've talked about before, so good, so explosive, and he is a perfect fit for what they want to do. Like they don't want in, obviously we just talked about the Packers, the team that let him go. They don't want their run game in Minnesota to be a jab, jab. Like they want it to be more of an explosive element here. In addition to something that keeps them on schedule, which I love how that works in the passing game where they have,

They'll let Sam rip it a few times a game, but for the most part, they've designed things really well for him too and allowed him to do what he does best, which is, you know, he can really pick you apart when things are on schedule here. Just spin the wheel. Do what he does best, but just spin the wheel. To me, I don't have any big questions about this team. I don't really have big questions about many of the teams in my top five. I like all of them. I just have Minnesota at five. Yeah, I originally had them maybe, shoot, even almost like

Or do I like five-ish, four-ish? And then I just kind of, again, it's a combination for me of how I feel about them, what have I seen, and then looking at stats to make sure I'm not just...

pulling a 2023 Falcons. I think I don't think you're doing that. No, I do not. I do not. I do not with this team. I just think they're really good. Like I just do. I their floor is higher than I think people realize that with that run game that you mentioned that that's why I think that they've insulated themselves from the darn oldness and just not only just the

they do have a high success rate but on top of being explosive too so it is not it's not just boom bust it's has some sustainability but it is trying to search and seek those explosive plays which i think yeah that's great you still yeah darnold's darnold he's gonna have some highs it's gonna open up things in the red zone which is good because the designs are good there they still haven't used too much of him his legs which i i think is interesting it's more just scrambles they haven't used the design runs yet so maybe after the bye week do we see that so

So KOC is an excellent play designer. He's super aggressive. Their personnel is good. Addison's back. Of course, Hawkinson's working his way back. Aaron Jones is hopefully not missing any time. He practiced. So I think that we're okay there, but he always does miss time. What games are they going to be? That's always the thing. Ty Chandler on his second or third play.

Gets hit right in the face with a toss play. It turns into a fumble. So that's why you want Aaron Jones a little more trustworthy. You know, that's no, it's all right, Ty, you got it. Oh God, that's nothing like that. And I just think the defense is such a hard out. Like,

They've shored up on some stuff that could get them in the past. They're better against zone runs this year. Duo is the best run against them. But zone runs, they've learned to kind of gash them because they have so much movement and so much stuff. So it's cool to see a defense adding layers.

Now they have this bi-week. Do they add even more layers? You know, do they add even more new things? So that's Dallas Turner. Does he get involved here? He hasn't been, you know, obviously completely in the mix this year. So there's potentially some reinforcements on that side of the ball too. That's it. Yeah. It's so that's why I just, I didn't have enough to kind of ding them. And actually every time I just kind of kept thinking back, it's the wine's not,

a great the greatest line but they're solid you know they're they're pretty solid and they can hold up decently in past protection they're not great but decently and darnold can create some things but also could be some bad things

The combination of just all of it, I think the floor is higher, even with the wacky defense and Darnold's wackiness, that I think that they have a high ceiling too. So yeah, I ended up going with them at two and I just, I like what they're doing. I want to see them after the bye. So, but going on your number five, or I'm sorry, my number five team was your number one team. Or do you want to save this one?

But I mean, let's get our biggest difference. Let's get into it here, man. The Ravens, the Baltimore Ravens just beat the Washington Commanders in a fun game. Very fun game. Why are they your number one team?

Baltimore, man, they're not the defense that they were last year. I think we can say that safely at this point. I'm interested to see what Dean Pease brings. They brought him on as a consultant, which is probably a good idea for Zach Gore, who's a first-time defensive play caller. The secondary has had issues this year. They've given up a lot of production to passing games. They still absolutely demolish run games. It's so funny. Like,

I love what Cliff Kingsbury has done as a run game designer. I think they've gotten the best out of mid-level offensive line talent in Washington so far this season.

It was like, okay, that's cute. We're the Ravens. The word is going to beat the hell out of you. And we're just going to, and I know Brian Robinson didn't play in this game, but they just completely snuffed out what was one of the most efficient run games in the NFL. And I think they can continue to do that. So defense isn't what it was last year, but they still have Kyle Hamilton. They still have, you know, Requan Smith maybe hasn't played his best football this year. I don't think, but still overall a player I,

I don't just suddenly think he's lost it out of nowhere. I think they'll be fine in time. And then offensively, man, well, they might not be the defense that they were last year. I think this might be the most...

the most I've been impressed with an offense in the Lamar Jackson era, which is saying something because the guy has won two MVPs, including last year. But this is the second year in the system with Todd Monken. The run game with Derrick Henry obviously is obnoxiously good. Even in a game like the last two of the last three here, when he hasn't maybe been the biggest factor, which, by the way...

I would say is good. Last two games, really. I would say that's good. And he's still been hyperproductive. He's still been over 130 rushing yards and three of the last four games. We know it's just an absolutely ridiculous run game. Even then, like, okay, we're leading you in the fourth quarter.

Derrick Henry's like the sim to end player like we're going to go ahead and get the end of this game because we're going to give him the ball in the fourth quarter but so we know that's good I would say man this passing game I'm very impressed with at this point I know they don't have a true like I guess number one receiver but they're finally Nate unleashing Zay Flowers on real routes not just like I get why they want to get him on screens and they have been giving him screens the last two weeks and like some kind of Mickey Mouse gadgety stuff because he's so dynamic with

the ball in his hands but the guy has been a press man beater even at his size dating back to or at least a man coverage beater dating back to his time at bc like the guy can run routes yeah the guy can run routes in the intermediate area of the field and the last two weeks albeit against bad defenses cincinnati washington they have really finally gotten him going in that area um and you know

our guy Rashad Bateman, Nate Tice, in terms of targets that turn into a first down or touchdown over, I think, 82. I tweeted out yesterday, and if I was better, I'd have it ready to rock here, but I can filibuster and get it real quick. You can't filibuster, don't worry. Stall, stall, stall. NGS.com. Yeah, exactly. In terms of wide receivers...

in the NFL right now, as I continue to filibuster and true media updates here, top four players in terms of percentage of targets to turn into a first down or touchdown catches. Excuse me. Number one is AJ Brown. Number two is Nico Collins. Number three is DeMarcus Robinson. Number four is Rashad Bateman. 82.4% of his catches have been first down or touchdown guys like a legit factor in the offense. Mark Andrews isn't the same player. I think coming off that tightrope injury, uh,

but they have three tight ends. Like even Charlie Kolar got in the mix here. Isaiah likely is dangerous. So I don't know. Lamar, I think is really in touch and in tune with this system right now. And they have good players around him. So the fact that there's a little bit of a drop off the defense, I think, Hey, that's going to happen year to year. You know how you offset that your offense takes a step forward. And I think we've seen that with Baltimore. I think the Ravens are going to be in a lot of fun games because of the, the combination of an awesome offense. That's first and explosive pass, right? Second explosive run, right?

and third in rushing success rate, that's a winning formula. If you can run the ball and sustain a run game and then get explosive passing plays with your arm or legs with Lamar,

Yeah, you're going to score points, even if the offensive line is playing better, way better than week one. Of course, you know, they have so many parts. They're not great, though. You know, they still have some drop back stuff, but they're much better than they've really come along. They bludgeon you with Derrick Henry. All right. So, all right. They're going to try a bunch of tight ends of Patrick Ricard. All right. Well, we got to have big bodies out there to slow this down. All right. So now you're daring. Are we going to cover Zay Flowers? Yeah. Isaiah Likely is decent against that. Lamar scrambling against that.

you're that's hard for any defense to like all right every down we got to pick pick what we're going to go against here uh pick your poison offense after the game on sunday and i thought that was a perfect way to say it like they've they've never been that type of team even even again he's one mvp as he said some super efficient passing um seasons i don't yeah it's different i don't think they've ever been a scary passing team or a scary multiple passing team i think now with monken at the coordinator position for the second year and

Lamar just being Lamar, I think they finally are that type of team. Yeah, and this is the best ball in Lamar's career. Like, it really is. Yeah, like I said, it's either one or two MVP with him and Stroud, and I'd probably give it to Lamar just because...

because it's a little easier to back it up with some stats, even though Stroud is kind of outplaying those stats. But why I have them at five is I am a little iffy on the defense. They can stuff the run. They give up no explosive runs. Their first explosive runs, I think it was like 2% explosive runs, which is absurd. Like good is like 7%, 8%. Like they're at two. So they make it really hard to run the ball.

The DBs just keep kind of have some communication issues and it keeps coming up each week. Roquan has lost a step in pass coverage. He's still good against Iran. A little bit of pass coverage. He's lost a step. So, but they're dead last and explosive passes allowed. And that that's scary to me because I saw the commanders get after it a couple of times, like where they motion to get Dawson Eckler wheel route. They popped them there. You know, they have Nate, Nate Wiggins, who's nice, but he, you know, as a young player, sometimes that happens. So,

That's what kept me a little lower. It was just that it was just like this defense has definitely lost some teeth, but I still think it's solid. So I just want to see them prove it. Maybe they maybe need a bye week. They need a deep breath to reconfigure some things. And maybe after that bye or after that deep breath, then they can kind of really come on and reconfigure what their defense is. But still a good team. Like I could have easily argued them at two and I almost did.

But I kind of dropped them down because that defense just leaves me a little antsy. We got two last teams here. We would go with the Chiefs, who I have at one. You have at three. I'll start off just real quick.

Patrick Mahomes, a top 10 defense and a reconfigured offensive line with a really good run game. I'm betting on that every single day of the week, twice on Sunday or Monday or Thursday or Saturday once the season goes along. They could stop the run, which is usually how you get after spags is, okay, we're screw basketball against these crazy looks. Just run it. They're second.

and sex rate, which is success and explosive play rate against running back runs. God, people are getting on me today. It's like, oh, it's me. But they don't let up any explosive runs. Their second explosive play rate allowed total, which that's huge because of how crazy this defense can be. You overcome the negatives you take on offense by gashing them on the other end. If we can't gash them, then...

All right. Well, we have to stay on schedule, but they're going to get you with a sack or a TFO. Chris Jones can take over. So that's why I'm betting on this team. The whole line is playing well, even if tackles aren't.

They're okay, but they're better than how they were playing last year. But they can run the ball. And that's why I just, it doesn't matter who's back there. 80% Kareem Hunt, Carson Steele, P. Ryan. I keep kind of bringing this up, and I've watched it now. It's sustainable. This is week in, week out. They're third in running back success rate. And I think that's just going to be a thing for them. So they're the number one team for me for those reasons. But you have them a little lower, whatever some of the blemishes. I'm going to guess that it rhymes with Cass' performance.

My lawyers have advised me not to speak negatively about the Kansas City Chiefs on this airwave because we know how that ends. So I'm not going to do that. I will. I will just say we get Isaiah Pacheco back in the mix here because you're right like that run game will be sound no matter who's in there. But like a

A guy like that in the back, even if Pacheco's not the perfect running back or anything like that, a guy like that back there will truly weaponize the run game, I think, a little bit more than this version of Kareem Hunt, things like that. I'd like to see a little more out of, obviously, yes, the pass catchers, of course. I mean, Juju's going to be...

85% Rasheed Rice. He's not going to give you the same explosive after the catch ability, but I've always said that Rasheed Rice's rookie season reception perception perfectly compares to Juju Smith-Schuster early in his career. So he's just not going to give you the same pop after the catch like early career Juju or certainly this version of Rasheed Rice, but

Sound player has trust my homes. Like if we get, if we get Xavier worthy, actually activated here, which I know you and I are just kind of skeptical, then yeah, we're talking about that. That could easily be my number one team. I just, I just think that a team that's this good,

again this toothless in the pass catching department can they really be my number one team I don't know but of course I've obviously learned the lesson with my homes and and and receivers and things like I will say to my homes is not having his best year to start this year I think you know if he was if he was 2023 my homes and we had all these issues on offense you know that would and I don't really think like there's no take here there's no I'm not concerned about my homes or anything like that I just think like realistically what I've seen so far I think

I think the lions and the Ravens have been a better team. Yeah. They're there. My homes has to play like late career breeze right now. It's like, he's jabbing away and then maybe an occasional deep shot, like, but he's barely throwing the ball deep. It's just what they're doing now. And yeah,

it's just, I, I've learned to never bet against them. I feel like the formula of my homes and a good defense and the old line. That's okay. It's like, yeah, I'm okay. I keep betting on this. All right. Last team wrap it up. Cause otherwise stone might kill us. The, we have, I have the lines at three. You have the lines at two. I think we're both kind of the same boat with this team that, I mean, I,

I have no qualms with the offense. I think this offense rocks first and success rate, sex rate, explosive play rate, everything. They pass the ball well. If you get them on third down, doesn't matter. They're not like a typical run first team where it's like, all right, get them on third and eight. They're screwed. No, Ben Johnson is really good designing stuff on third down. Their pass protection rules are not Shanahan rules. They're Hank Fraley rules.

traditional pass protection rules, which I really like, and Goff knows how to sort it out and is good operating right there. The Jameson Williams touchdown was a great design. The deep one, they did it against the Bucs last year. Used a cheated cadence, which is when the center just grabs the ball and snaps it. But again, it was like

Third down is not a weakness for this team. It's a continued strength for the offense. And then, yeah, defense is playing better. They're aggressive. Aiden Hutchinson is going to be iffy. Losing him, you're...

defensive player of the year prediction, which I still liked. But you can see their young players get more comfortable on the back end. And I think that's really interesting. The Brian Branch interception against Dak was awesome. You can hear Tom Brady just going like, oh, but then realizing he has to do good commentary and be neutral and not like a quarterback for his guy. And he's like, yeah, yeah, you can just see the eyes here. That was so funny to me because every quarterback in the world goes, oh, that's brutal.

Because it's just the DB making a great play. But I like the defense. They're not giving up as many explosive plays as maybe I thought. And for how much man coverage they play, that's really good. And I just don't think they can do things even without Hutchinson up front. I do think Ali McNeil is a good player. I think their front seven is still good. So yeah, I just feel good about the Lions. Like the NFC North, if you can't tell, all four NFC North teams in my top 10. Same.

Same for you. So I'm glad we're both on the same page there, but cap us off with your lines thoughts. I didn't realize until I looked at it too, that they are the top four teams and point differential, all four NFC North teams. It's all four of them are. Oh, I didn't know that either. Vikings, lions, bears, Packers. I mean, it's,

pretty outrageous the nfc north was this is the best defense i mean just the best division ever it's insane how are it's it's outrageous we have like all these teams in our top 10 that's just it's crazy stuff but yeah i mean yeah and i don't feel like that's a hot take either that's not like trying to do anything for attention man yeah i mean you brought up great points about the defense and i think that they they hold up to being a really good man coverage team it's so it's

I don't know what like admirable when a team wants to play this much man coverage. It's like, then you get teams like Jacksonville. Okay. You need to stop doing that. You don't have a horse to be doing that. And then we'll see what they look like without Aiden Hutchinson, of course, but this is a team that has the horses to play this much man coverage and get away with it and be like a tough out every single week. So yeah,

I think on offense too, man, just Dave Montgomery. What a great player. I mean, number two in rushing success rate among backs with 40 plus carries. The only one that's higher than him is Tyler Algier. So that's pretty, pretty epic. Sorry. Sorry. Bijan Robinson, fantasy managers like Tyler Algier is not going anywhere. You're going to just have to learn to live with it. And I feel that's the same thing with Dave Montgomery. Like he might be the better back in fantasy. Jameer Gibbs going forward just because he fits this offense so well and he's

Yeah, funny you bring up Tom Brady too because it felt like him calling that game on Sunday. It felt like, wow, I finally get to talk about a team worth my eyeballs because he was just clearly so impressed by the way this offense is designed and operates and the way Goff plays in it and how in tune he is with the scheme and the way Ben Johnson. You could tell that was a guy that's watched a lot of Cowboys.

And just how, and I think he's regretting that he has the NFC afternoon game every week because it's always going to be the cap. It's always the Cowboys and they're like constipated. Everything is difficult offense. And then it's like, man, we are sorry for the analogy, but flowing smoothly here in the Detroit lions offense. So yeah, you can tell that like Brady was really impressed with that. And I mean, anybody that watches Detroit, you got to come away feeling the exact same way. It,

It's if you can run the ball successfully and you can create explosive plays, like it's just like, that's, it's doesn't get much harder than that. And they've proven it before. That's the thing. It's not like, I'm like, wow. It's like, no, this offense does this week in week out the Ben Johnson, the sniper, like their design plays are so great. He had like seven offensive line gadget place. Like,

I think they were annoyed about that call last year. Yeah, trying to prove the point type thing. I've never seen an offensive coordinator whose team blew out another team by almost 40 plus points looking so irritated on the sideline. Ben Johnson was pissed. He was mad. At the end, they were doing the Penny Sewell gadget play where it was the hook and ladder to Penny Sewell. And because they called the flag, Ben Johnson's like, live it. I was like, that was...

Okay. All right. Well, I like it, I guess. That's why I'm not betting against this team. That was fun. I'm sure everybody would be happy with us. I mentioned some of their album mentions. Commanders were one of mine as well. Bucks, another one. I actually had Chargers? Question mark? Ooh. Yeah. I couldn't put them in my top 10, but I do want to give them honorable mention. That defense is sound. I know they haven't played much, but not bad. Herbert looked good last week, so...

Yeah. Falcons commanders and were probably my two honorable mentions. It just couldn't get there with the defense with Washington and obviously Pittsburgh, you know, they're four and two. They're top six and point differential. But I just can't say a team that where I'm like about the quarterback situation is a top 10 team for me in the NFL. So you're swapping quarterbacks or swapping head coaches. I'm not going to. It's hard for me to anoint you anywhere.

All right. That'll do it. That was fun. We're closing out today. Charles will be back. Charles McDonald will be back on Thursday as we preview week seven. Oh my God. Week seven already. But I am Nate Tice. You can find me at Nate underscore Tice. That is Matt Harmon. Where can they find you, Matt? What are you working on this week as well?

Yeah. Matt Harmon underscore B Y B. Um, you know, we'll be together tomorrow in the fantasy film room. Think we might, we talked about good teams, uh, today. I think maybe we'll talk about some struggling offenses. I love you. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah. I have more fun with that sometimes than, than, than the good.

Perfect. We'll decide which teams we want to hit on because there's a lot of teams that are struggling right now. There's some bad teams. Charles and I were kind of talking about this. There's just a lot of bad teams right now. More than usual. It's just a lot of teams that are like, this ain't working. A lot of tough watches. But yeah, other than that, just hosting the pod every day and charting the routes, man. A lot of wide receiver news, so I will be busy. Hopefully.

hosting the pod every day matt is working his tail off over there we also take your mailback questions we got to some last week we're going to start trying to answer one a show

And I'll try and get one on Thursday. But send those questions to football301mailbag at yahoosports.com. Those emails are great. We got some voicemails last show. That was a lot of fun. Make sure to subscribe to us, follow us, rate us. Pretty please. Also watch us on YouTube on the Yahoo Sports YouTube channel or follow Yahoo Sports on Snapchat if you're into that. Thank you to Brett Stone-Otty. Thank you to Matt for joining me. Thank you all for listening. See you guys next time.

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